


King's Shield

by SuperNerd92



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, M/M, Pokemon, Pokemon Battles, Pokemon Journey, Pokemon Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26563582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperNerd92/pseuds/SuperNerd92
Summary: Aegislash was so highly rated because it had two forms: one for all-out attacking, the other where it hunkered into a shield and shrugged off all attacks. Truly skilled battlers flipped between both forms to turn the battle in their favor.Felix? He’d be damned if he was caught dead using the Shield form that had given his damn father that damn title.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	King's Shield

“You’re going to lose if you fight him with this team as-is,” Sylvain said bluntly. 

Felix scowled at his friend, but took a moment to think about what he’d said before snapping back. Sylvain could be damn smart (when he wanted to be); and he wasn’t a great battler himself, but he _had_ been giving valuable insight to Felix for years now, as the two of them traveled to region after region for Felix to conquer the Gym Challenges and fight in the Trainer tournaments.

Felix definitely hadn’t wanted a traveling companion. The Gautier City Ice-type Gym had been his first stop on the Faerghus region Gym Challenge, years ago, when he was just a kid. Gym Leader Sylvain, only a couple years his senior, lost 3-0 - it hadn’t even been close - but Sylvain had just grinned.

_“Oh no! My first-ever loss!”_

_Felix, figuring that said way more about the poor quality of the Trainers than anything: “Whatever. Just give me the Badge.”_

_“Here you go-” Sylvain threw it at him carelessly. “OK, you also get this T.M. for Icy Wind, blah blah blah, BUT! More importantly. I’ve been defeated for the first time, and now the League will allow me to take a sabbatical to re-constitute my team for the next challenger.”_

_“Okay,” Felix said, not caring about anything in that rant except for the T.M. He checked the compatibility in his Pokedex. Damn - none of his Pokemon could use it yet._

_“So where are we going?” Sylvain asked._ _  
__  
__Felix scowled. “What’s this_ ‘we’ _?”_

It had been no use - Sylvain stuck to him like a Remoraid on a Mantine ever since. His sabbatical from the Gym had been going for a good seven years now - far longer than the League had ever intended, but Sylvain dodged their calls and messenger-Pokemon. If they did manage to corner him, he just said that he hadn’t finished changing his team around. 

Technically the truth, but really, he hadn’t lifted a finger to battle or catch other Pokemon in those seven years. Felix knew he was banking on the interim Gym Leader taking the job permanently, freeing him of the shackles of obligation. 

It was supposed to be Miklan, Sylvain’s older brother. But Miklan had fallen in with the wrong crowd - one of those stupid Teams that had some stupider plan to raise a Legendary Pokemon and try to conquer the world. The Team failed, the way they always did, and the Gautier family had no use for Miklan anymore. Sylvain, still a teenager, was pushed into the Gym. His birthright. His family legacy. 

Felix knew a little something about that. It should be Glenn on this League circuit. Glenn was the greatest battler Felix had ever seen; Felix had certainly never come close to beating him. But after the accident, after Glenn lost the use of his dominant hand, he’d faded away from battling. He was working at a hospital now, researching with healing Pokemon to make sure other kids never had to go through what he’d gone through.

A damn saint. But it left Felix chasing ghosts, because Glenn had never wanted to battle again, even trading Felix his ace: that damn Aegislash, originally captured by Rodrigue, passed down to Glenn like some family heirloom.

Rodrigue… 

“I’m telling you,” Sylvain was saying, heedless of Felix’s long trip down memory lane, “Yuri is a threat. He’s the top-rated battler in all Kalos. He was up against Dimitri last round, and didn’t lose a Pokemon against him.” 

Felix snorted. “Is that supposed to intimidate me? Dimitri’s entire strategy is to put a Choice Band on everything.” For all the strategy he used, the man might as well have _been_ an Emboar, instead of just battling with one. 

“He still got this far in the bracket with that strategy, simple as it is. But Yuri put Foul Play on all of his Pokemon, using Dimitri’s own boosted Attack stat against him. Up against _you_ , he’s gonna stack Prankster and status moves. Your sweepers won’t be any good when they’re burned or paralyzed.” 

“We’re not having this conversation.” Felix could see where it was going and he didn’t like it. 

Sylvain snorted. “Right - I forgot about the daddy issues.”  
  
“Shut up,” Felix snarled, because Sylvain was _right_ and he shouldn’t be allowed to see through Felix like that. 

Rodrigue Fraldarius, so renowned for his skills as a defensive battler that everyone on the League circuit called him the Shield of Faerghus. Felix supposed he’d admired that once, a long time ago. But playing a stall strategy was for cowards - the kind of coward who’d say he was happy Glenn had been crippled, because hey, at least Glenn had heroically carried some kids out of that collapsing building. 

Aegislash was so highly rated because it had two forms: one for all-out attacking, the other where it hunkered into a shield and shrugged off all attacks. Truly skilled battlers flipped between both forms to turn the battle in their favor. 

Felix? He’d be damned if he was caught dead using the Shield form that had given his damn father that damn title. 

“We aren’t allowed to swap our six Pokemon out. How exactly do you intend for me to become a defensive battler before tomorrow?”

“We can’t change the Pokemon, but we _can_ alter their moves, abilities, stats. Stop playing dumb. You _know_ Salamence has Intimidate, you’ve just never bothered to use it because of your stupid hang-up.” 

Felix had to admit - if he battled tomorrow with a bulky offensive team instead of a sweeper team, for the literal first time, Yuri wouldn’t be expecting it. There would be no tendencies and previous battles’ film to study. It made sense - but it still felt like giving up. Giving in to the weight of those Fraldarius expectations. 

Sylvain saw it on his face. He heaved a dramatic sigh. “Okay - I didn’t want to have to do this, but it’s time for my secret weapon.”  
  
“Ugh. Okay. What.” 

“I threw that match against you.” 

“ _What_!?” Felix growled.

“Damn, it’s been seven years, Felix. I thought you’d _at least_ have some doubts when you saw what I can do in the practice sims.” That was true - he’d been practicing against Felix for years with mock-ups of the upcoming opponent’s teams, always bringing something new or creative to his strategy. 

“You… you didn’t. No way.”

“Felix. You had two Dragon-Flying types and an Aegislash you refused to switch out of Sword form. I could have swept you with my Sneasel alone - the way Yuri is going to tomorrow with Weavile, by the way,” Sylvain said, rolling his eyes. 

Okay, Sylvain had a point there. Felix’s favored sweepers were often Dragon types. He’d bulked up that weakness over the years, but a Dark/Ice type like the Sneasel family was still his biggest weakness. It would _definitely_ have been enough to defeat him in his very first Gym battle.

“... Why?” 

“I wanted to get the hell out of there, that’s why. You were the first kid-Trainer who showed up and gave me a decent fight. Close enough that the League would buy that I _actually_ lost.” Syvlain gave him that cheesy Sylvain grin. “I was gonna ditch you a few days later, but who knew? You were actually kinda cool, for a kid.” 

Well... _fuck_. Felix replayed the battle in his mind, and it was _so_ obvious now; he’d been an idiot to not see it before. 

“Okay. We’ll do it your way.” Sylvain’s way, _not_ Rodrigue’s way - that would make it a little better, at least. 

Sylvain rubbed his hands together. “Nice. Here’s what we’re gonna do. Send Aegislash out in Sword form - but with a Weakness Policy. He’ll assume you’re doing your dumb Felix thing and staying offensive, try to one-shot you with a Dark attack. But when you use King’s Shield to swap to defensive, you’ll survive-” 

“-And get double my offensive stats,” Felix said excitedly, knowing exactly how that item worked. 

“Right! Okay, Intimidate on Salamence, obviously, and if we give it Toxic and Roost, too, we can…” 

* * *

It was still close, but Felix’s new “actually be able to take one hit” strategy turned the tables on Yuri. He dodged all the reporters afterwards, finding Sylvain in the crowd and gesturing for them both to clear out of there, one step ahead of the paparazzi. 

“See, that wasn’t so bad. You didn’t turn into your old man on the spot or anything,” Sylvain smirked, once they were back on the road. 

“I want a rematch,” was all Felix said, glaring up at the other man. 

“Ugh, see, this is why I didn’t tell you. I _knew_ this would happen. You know if I catch a new team the League is gonna-” 

“ _Fuck_ the League. And the Gautiers. Just tell them you quit instead of dodging around it.”

“ _Way_ easier said than done,” Sylvain sighed. 

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. But I used King’s Shield today.”

“You did,” Sylvain admitted. Seven years of fighting Glenn’s ghost, the expectations of his own father, but he’d finally found a way to make the strategy his own instead of someone else’s. Maybe it was only fair for him to expect Sylvain to face his past, too. 

“I want to get stronger. Become the strongest Trainer in the world,” Felix said. This was more than he’d said about his own motivations the entire time they’d known each other, so Sylvain just listened, even though he'd guessed all this already. “I’ll never be able to beat Glenn, not _now_ … but maybe if I can do that, it’ll be close enough.” 

“You know I’m right there with you. I’ve been helping you train for seven years-” 

“I want a rematch. In a proper tournament. So _our_ next step is to get you an actual League-ready team again.” 

Sylvain scoffed. “Isn’t helping me just a waste of your time? You could be doing another Gym, or another tournament, or…” 

Felix shook his head. “It’s never a waste of time. Not when it’s you.” 

They seemed to realize the implications of _that_ at the same time; Sylvain smirked, and Felix’s face went bright red. Felix muttered curses under his breath and started walking away, hands stuffed into the pockets of his Trainer jacket.

“Hey, Felix, wait! You can’t just drop that and run… at least not with your short little legs, I’ll _definitely_ catch up with you.” 

“Fuck you, Sylvain.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this is enjoyable to both people who play enough Pokemon to laugh at "stall is for cowards" and people who have never touched a Pokemon game in their life!
> 
> This idea came to me this morning and I wrote it all then, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention there are some great 3H Pokemon AUs out there that probably got the concept rattling around in my subconscious. Most recently, I read this great Yuri/Ashe one... check it out: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26418964/chapters/64361383


End file.
